Dialogue of Civilizations Program in Rome, Cairo, Alexandria

The term soundscape echoes the relationships between sound, space and social life. This approach to sound has inspired works from a variety of fields that call attention to multiple ways of listening and, subsequently, to an approach to landscapes in which the visual and the auditory are considered as mutually constitutive of each other. The course offers students the opportunity to study the sonic environments of the cities of Rome, Cairo, and Alexandria and to contextualize them in a cultural area in which Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East are reclaiming their place: the Mediterranean. The students will explore the interaction between (1) sound and architecture—the construction of sacred spaces such as mosques, synagogues and churches; (2) sound and ecology—the auditory tracing of the rivers and the seaside; (3) sound and social life—the sensory world of the streets, cafes and the everyday open markets; (4) sound and memory—the role of sound in the construction of a sense of place among migrants; (5) sound and silence—the role of silence in the construction of sound. Because films have greatly influenced ideologies of sound, the course will also examine soundtracks as a complex dialogue between images and sound that together affect the viewer’s experience.